Embodiments described herein relate to a flexible plumbing assembly and method of plumbing, and more particularly, to a flexible plumbing assembly and method of plumbing vehicles having an extensible cabin portion.
Vehicles such as motor coaches and travel trailers often have a main cabin portion and an extensible cabin portion that extends from the main cabin portion to increase the interior area of the vehicle. The extensible cabin portion typically slides along the floor of the main cabin portion between a retracted position and an extended position, while the main cabin portion does not move.
Rigid plumbing is typically used for waste disposal lines, water lines and gas lines. To facilitate the placement of rigid plumbing, the kitchen and bathroom areas of the vehicle typically have to be located in the main cabin portion, and the extensible cabin portion is typically used for sleeping and living areas. In this way, the total interior area of the cabin that is used, and the configuration of the entire cabin is limited to where the kitchen and bathroom areas are located.
Some prior art vehicles have located the kitchen and bathroom areas in the extensible cabin portions by providing connection to utility lines with quick release connectors. However, the quick release connectors are manually connected and disconnected each time the extensible cabin portion is moved from the retracted position to the extended position, or from the extended position to the retracted position.
Flexible plumbing assemblies have also been used to locate the kitchen and bathroom areas in the extensible cabin portion. As taught by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,816,639 and 5,951,082 assigned to Monaco Coach Corporation, flexible plumbing has been located within a slide cabinet on a side wall of the extensible cabin portion. The slide cabinet is positioned in a hollow interior space of the wall, and the plumbing fixture is located adjacent to the wall containing the slide cabinet so that the plumbing lines can be fed into the wall and into the slide cabinet.